From hiking the remote canyons of Navajo country to the spectacular mountains of the Rockies, from Orca-spotting off Vancouver to the gold-rush towns of the Yukon, experience North America - a true wilderness paradise.

I was hoping to fly ito NYC and take a tour, but it seems I'm going to be a little too early for many of the summer tours to start. I've already checked all the usual suspects online.

So, the plan is to fly in, and only book a couple of nights and then book a tour locally. Is that a good idea, or a really bad one? I'm familiar with the US from trips before. I want to do the big cities, Washington, Philly. etc and stick to the coast. I've already done Niagara from the other side.

So are there any recommendations out there? It would be a 8-10 day trip. And I don't drive by the way.

How about exploring those cities yourself by train? Amtrak have a train that connects Boston, NYC, Washington and Philly and they tend to be great value. They also go from city centre to city centre so you wont need to drive/get a lot of taxis from airports.

Then in each place, join some city tours or do an Urban Adventure. There are a few free walking tours u can do too. I'd spend maybe 3-4 days in NYC and Washington (lots to see and do) with 1/2 days in Philly.

Waiting until you are there to book a tour locally is fine if you've got loadsa time to do research on the different options out there or to check out who is reputable, but on an 8-10 day trip I'd try to book as much as possible before going to make sure u dont waste any time.

I've been to NYC but Washington is right up there on my list - very jealous!